Mesa Powerhas ordered 667 2.5 MW wind turbines from GE for its first phase Texas project. The first phase project is expected to cost $2 billion by 2011. My suspecion is that the $2 billion estimate is low. We thus would have a $2000 cist per name plate MW, but Mesa is trying to raise equity investment with the intent of borrowing the rest. If the installatiun price is going up, would Mesa admit it? That would frighten off potential investors, wouldm't it?
Adjusted for capacity factor, isn't even $2 billion likely to be about the same cost-wise as the recent estimates for new nuclear plants? Add the intermittency-related issues and I don't think this turns out to be a good idea even at this "low" price.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I suspect is that the $2 billion is an underestimate.
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